32% Increase in UC Fees

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For those of you seniors who are planning on attending a U.C. next year, be prepared to pay more. Today, the UC Regents finance committee voted to recommend a 32 percent student fee increase, raising the annual price of a UC education to $10,302. This increase has been implemented to make up the $535 million dollar funding gap created by reduced state funding and inflation. As soon as next semester, students will see an incremental increase of 15% in their tuition. The decision by the regents was not welcomed warmly by students. Protests broke out in all the UC campuses, and at UCLA, where the meeting was held, UC riot police arrested 14 people. At UC Berkeley, 1,000 students and faculty members protested in Sproul Plaza. For students, many will struggle even more to pay for their tuition and some may have to drop out. While students with a family income less than $70,000 will have their tuition waived, the increase is still significant for everyone else. The regents acknowledged the effect on students from this fee increase and were reluctant to vote on it, but stated it was necessary to close the funding gap.

As a high school senior with one sibling in college and two siblings who are juniors in high school, I am seriously considering attending a U.C. as its tuition is low enough so that my parents can afford to pay for both my education and the education of my brothers. However, now even a U.C. might be out of reach financially. I feel like this increase could have been avoided if the government did a better job managing its education funds. California has one of the largest public university systems in the nation, and cutting funds from them impacts thousands of students. Instead of reducing the funds to the U.C., the state should have looked to other departments to save money as education is important for the future. California has one of the strongest public university systems, but with the budget cuts to the CSUs and now the U.C.s, things seem to be declining. Hopefully this increase isn't permanent and we will see tuition return to normal soon. What are your thoughts and opinions on this?